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Subject: FAQ:PdoxWin:Accessing MS Access from
Paradox:2002.03.11

Version 1.0 (2002.03.06)
Version 1.1 (2002.03.11)
Written by Liz W.
edited by Mike Irwin

====================
0. Introduction
====================

This FAQ addresses the use of MS Access tables from Corel
Paradox for Windows. Information herein should apply to any
32-bit Paradox for Windows (7/32, 8, 9, & 10 at the time of
writing).

-------------------------------
 0.1 Legal Info and Disclaimers
-------------------------------

Paradox is a trademark of Corel.
Borland Database Engine (BDE) is a trademark of Inprise.

The information provided in this FAQ is provided "as is"
and is not warranted in any way. The information provided
in this FAQ is not endorsed or authorized by Corel or
Inprise in any shape, form, or manner.

The editors claim NO responsibility for ANY illegal
activity regarding this file, or as a result of someone
reading this file.

You encouraged to distribute this file, as long as the
copies are complete, unaltered, and are dated so that a
future reader can know how old the information is.

-------------
 0.2 Feedback
-------------

Please send feedback in a Corel Paradox newsgroup or the
news:comp.databases.Paradox newsgroup to any of the FAQ
Team mentioned in the "FAQ: FAQ FAQ" document.
Please preface the subject of your post with the string
"PDXWIN FAQ" to alert Team members to the function of
the message.

Please specify the FAQ name and section number the
comment applies to, if any.

-------------
 0.3 Attachments
-------------

These are no attachments.

==============================
1. Problem
==============================

Attempting to obtain data from MS Access tables results in
error messages, such as

Error: Cannot load an IDAPI Service library
      C:\Windows\Msapps\DAO\DAO3032.DLL

This message is from Corel Paradox 8. Later versions will
show similar messages.

When trying to make a connection to your Microsoft Access
tables in Paradox, you can use an ODBC connection or you can
use the Native driver included with Corel Paradox 8 and later.
Using the Native driver is much easier and quicker. For
information on the BDE see the DETAILS section below.

==============================
2. Solution
==============================

Here are the steps to configure the Native Access Driver for
use with Corel Paradox 8.

1.  If you do not have at least BDE 4.51 installed on your
    system, then download and install the BDE_UPG.EXE upgrade.
    (See the Details section for download instructions)

2.  Create the following directory path: C:\Windows\Msapps\DAO

3.  Now copy the DAO3032.DLL file from:

    "C:\program files\common files\microsoftshared\dao"

    into the

    "C:\Windows\Msapps\DAO"

    directory.

4.  Open Paradox and go up to Tools | Alias Manager

5.  Click the New button.

6.  Select MSACCESS from the Driver Type drop down list box.

7.  Give your alias a new name in the Database Alias field.

8.  You can leave the Language Driver field blank - this
    defaults to US English.

9.  Type in the path to your mdb file in the Database field.

10. If a user name and password are required, fill them in.

11. Type in the access level for the alias in the Open Mode
    field. The default is Read/Write.

12. Click on OK. You will be prompted to save the new alias
    to your current cfg file. Accept to save it.

13. Now click the Open Table button on the Standard Paradox
    Toolbar and select your new alias from the Alias drop-down
    list box located at the bottom of the Open Table dialogue
    box..

14. Select the table you want to open

==============================
3. Details
==============================

1.  Unless you have Microsoft Access installed on your system,
    the path

    C:\Windows\Msapps\DAO

    will not exist. Although the DAO3032.DLL file may exist
    elsewhere on your system, the BDE will look to load the
    DAO3032.DLL from

    C:\Windows\Msapps\DAO

    which is why the error occurs.

2.  Visit the Inprise site occasionally for information and
    updates to the BDE:

    http://www.inprise.com/devsupport/bde

3.  You can obtain the BDE 4.51 update from:

    http://www.inprise.com/devsupport/bde/oldver.html

4.  For more information on ODBC and Paradox, open the
    Database Engine 4.0 BDE administrator and refer to the
    online help, or visit

    http://kb.corel.com

    or www.inprise.com and search on ODBC.

==============================
4. Using ODBC
==============================

First, you have to set up ODBC & BDE properly.  The following
instructions assume the following:  Paradox 8 or later, BDE 4
or later, 32bit ODBC.

1.  Go to http://www.microsoft.com/data/downloads.htm and
    download mdacfull.exe (link reads: mdacfull.exe for x86
    (3.4 Mb, contains ADO/RDS/OLE DB/ODBC, SQL Server Driver,
    Access Driver, and Oracle Driver))

2.  Install the MDAC.

3.  Open 32bit ODBC from Control Panel

4.  Create a new DSN using "Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)"
    (company = Microsoft Corporation). Whether it's a User,
    System, or File DSN will depend on your situation - check
    the help hint on each tab for a brief explanation. If in
    doubt, try using a System DSN.

5.  In the setup for this DSN, give it a name in the Data
    Source Name field, a Description (optional), and select or
    create a database in the Database section (this should
    point to the .mdb you want to open). For basic connectivity,
    this should be all that you need to do.

6.  Open the BDE Administrator.  The DSN you just added will
    be there as a DataBase.

7.  Create a new alias, selecting "Microsoft Access Driver
    (*.Mdb)" as the Database Driver Name

8.  Name your new alias.

9.  On the Definition tab for the new alias, under DATABASE
    NAME, enter the path and .mdb filename you want this alias
    to point to (same as for the DSN created in step 5)

10. On the Definition tab for the new alias, under ODBC DSN,
    enter the DSN you created in step 3. Save your changes.

11. Open Paradox, create a new query, when it asks for a table,
    drop-down the alias list and select the alias created in
    step 5. the new query will open and you'll be set.

---------------
Notes
---------------

1. Once you have an ODBC database connection in existance,
you should be able to open it in the Tools | Aliases dialog,
and then treat it interactively in the same way as any other
database.

2. Using tCursors and binding to ODBC sources can be very
slow !

3. For publishing things such as catalogs from ODBC sources
(don't forget that Paradox also has an ODBC driver), look at
the dbPublisher program included with Corel Ventura
Publisher. This is a very simple program that supplies
"pre-tagged" data to Ventura. If you have already defined
your tags so that they accommodate the data correctly, then
converting a lot of data into a catalog on a CD or paper can
be the work of just a few minutes !


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